Harold definitely had never seen a Black woman in real life before Leshawna-- his first words to her were literally "I've never seen a woman like you in real life before" immediately before calling her "big and loud" which was 😬... their relationship always made me so uncomfortable because Leshawna made it clear that she didn't wanna be in a relationship with him even though she liked him and he continued to operate as though she was his girlfriend despite that. The fetishy shit on top of the complete disrespect of boundaries was just soooo bad.
Amen to that. I never realised how terrible Harold's fetishism over Leshawna was, but what he did went beyond fetishising her. He was overly objectifying her without considering her feelings as a fellow human being. By the way, I also learned about Sarah Baartman, and her story was indubitably tragic. The fact that she was abused like that because of her bodily condition and was treated like a sideshow just makes me realise how people can be cruel just for their own sick pleasure.
Tyler and Lindsay were the most healthiest and unproblematic couple in gen 1. Sure Lindsay forget his name often but they never really fought or cause drama with each other. Edit : wtf got this so many likes
If i recall correctly wasn't it because Heather threw a canoe at her implying she had a concussion? I remember it only starting after that bc it was when they left to go kiss somewhere
Harriyanna, please stop saying there's no one worthy enough to be your first mate when there's a cute dog literally in your intro sequence who radiates first mate energy.
To anyone who wants to do further watching on Sarah Baartman, I reccomend the video by Ask a Mortician. It is heavy subject matter, but important historical perspective on disrespect to the dead, particularly black women. As for my favorite part of the video, like I said in the live chat, you are so right about the adultification. That totally opened my eyes. It was always clear that Harold and Lashawna were a sort of parody of fetishization, but you're right, that's not appropriate, and so less appropriate when it is teens (and meant to entertain children). The other teens were just not treated that way.
Harold x Leshawna never grew on me in the slightest, for it was annoying, uncalled for, and kind of sick. When it came to romantic relationships on Total Drama Island, I was constantly leaning towards Trent x Gwen and Geoff x Bridgette.
i just want to say as a white woman the videos you make are more educating than a lifetime of experience , we truly could not get this insight without people like you standing up. Thank you for all the wisdom Harri u deserve the best
I love the connection you made to “Venus”. You are dead on. You can see direct ties between the play and the TV show. She is the curviest girl on the show and there was a total fixation on her body. Thinking about the writing room and the animation makes me so uncomfortable. What were the writers saying in the room while working on it.
Saartjie's story is so many levels of disturbing. Her body was taken and put on display as a novelty and it's just... Horrible. Her humanity was entirely cast aside.
I keep thinking about this scene in the end of Introducing Dorothy Dandridge where she died and the paparazzi was about to take vulture photos and her agent pleaded with them don't 💔 Also look up info about The Starr Report if you wanna be even more mad. Made me mad.
I know a lot of people probably didn't watch The Ridonculous Race, but the are for sure the healthiest couple in the franchise. In fact, they are the only couple that didn't fight on screen
They are one of my (goth) couple goals. Crimson and Ennui loved each other for who they are (both on and outside of their make-up) and were generally helpful to those who needed it when they weren't being generally apathetic.
In Island they were definitely a nice couple from the poems but in Action Harold did the most irredeemable stuff to her like naming a snail after her and just not fully respecting her
@@bradbradly9388 he didn’t like her as a person though, he didn’t actually like her he liked the image of her and loved the idea of being with her- that’s objectification
It's sickening how we never hear this side of history at school. I want to hear more about the terrible history of black women and disabled people. Why should we keep this hidden? So awful. I'm glad I don't like the greatest showman, I'm sick of stories like Pocahontas being whitened and "good".
There's a really great documentary called 'Crip Camp' about an important time in disability rights history in the US, where the one-time students of a well known summer camp for disabled children come together to demonstrate for change and bring about some of the most important disability legislation in the US at that time. It's great if you're interested in a starting point fir learning more about disability rights in the US.
@@los3r426 It glamorizes PT Barnum and makes him look like a much better person than he actually was. PT abused a black woman who he called “the nanny of George Washington” (he abused her to keep her looking old). He told everyone she was over 100 years old. When she died, he held a public autopsy of her body for money. Also, he committed lots and lots of animal abuse.
@@los3r426 Takes this from someone who loves the soundtrack of the movie. The story and real life counter part it was based on was far from liberating and celebrating the beauty of diversity. PT Barnum who co-owned Barnum and Bailey's circus was actually notorious for exploiting people of colour and those with disabilities. A prime example is a very elderly black lady who was in his circus that Barnum claimed was hundreds of years old and was the nurse of George Washington. He was someone who created false images of people he deemed worthy of holding the title 'freaks', allowing people to treat them like a novelty and look at them like they were a sideshow attraction
I do agree with you, Harri. Leshawna was racially offensive to black girls/women, just like Lightning (TDROTI) was racially offensive to black boys/men; especially when I found out that he was voiced by a white man doing a blaccent (black accent) years ago. And because of that, I was just over with Total Drama.
It's like how I've been watching One Piece lately and they had a whole flashback sequence about how mermaids were fetishized and enslaved by sailors, and even after hearing this, one of the main pirates continues to drool over any mermaid he meets. Just sub in "mermaid" for "WOC" and that's pretty much exactly how fetishization works to my understanding. You don't love them for who they are, you just want a mermaid.
Ngl Sanji's character is destroyed after the Thriller Bark arc. He turned into another generic anime pervert. I liked him more as a "simp" who respects women to an absurd amount. The Whole Cake Island arc really saved his character, at least for me
The channel “ask a mortician” did a good in depth video about Saartj and her life. It’s a little short but I think it’s worth watching if you’re curious
The way she went home was crazy, just for no reason. It was like they couldn’t have a Black woman at the end so they had to literally write her out with a mistake that everyone made??? Disgusting.
I honestly was disgusted and grossed out when Leshawna and Harold just hooked up like that. Now I have more reasons to hate their ship and the TD writers. Thank you for this video!
This was fetishization at its finest, I’m always blowed to find out how problematic old cartoons were and how it went over a lot of the audiences head.
and that's why i disagree with interracial dating between white people and poc ppl in general. i just think it's wrong bc it can lead to very real problems like this pretty much.
@@realshaggy6984 most of the time that love is blind love, and again i don’t really mind it between other ethnic minorities it’s when it’s between white and any other ethnic minority that i disagree with it pretty much bc i’ve seen more of the bad side to it then good
Harold and Chris gotta be the two most creepiest cartoon characters known to man. Another note, fetishization of any race, ethnicity, and gender is never ok or respectable. Treat black women better
I became familiar with Sarah Baartman when I was in middle school and not even in school, but through RUclips. Harold really wasn't shit on TD and fetishized the hell out of Leshawna. I honestly didn't even remember him hitting Courtney because of her 🤦🏽♀️
and that's why i disagree with interracial dating between white people and poc ppl in general. i just think it's wrong bc it can lead to very real problems like this pretty much.
Jesus that story about Sara was really scary. But stories, plays, and movies, that are based off from real life events or time periods, just shows how cruel humanity and reality is. I just watched nightingale and that movie is the definition of unfiltered brutal honestly of how harsh times were back then. But times now aren't better either, history is repeating itself and people don't learned from their mistakes.
The only thing I remember about their relationship is when Harold released that snail he named after her into the wild and basically was like "Go! Be free!" While sobbing his eyes out. When I was little, I felt bad for him, however, remembering that scene now just makes me cringe.
As soon as I heard him say that Leshawna was 'big and loud', I clicked off the episode and never watched that show again because I knew that it would be hard to enjoy.
i am so glad you made a video about this. total drama is one of my all time favorite animated shows and as a teenager while rewatching it for yet another time even i realized as a nonblack person that holy crap.... the leshawna/harold relationship was very problematic and was very much a white man fetishizing a black woman. and in general the more i looked at leshawna's character, i was like. wow. this seems... offensive? and i had seen black women before criticizing leshawna's characterization and i was like wow yeah. if i see any leshawna discourse come up in the future (yes, it still happens) i am referring everyone to this video. also you mention an interest in talking about pt barnum/the greatest showman and i am very interested in that! he was a horrible person. racist, ableist, intersexist, and so on.
I was a teen when TDI aired, and while I understood why she was the way she was, it didn’t mean I liked her. She was a walking, breathing stereotype of black cliches popular at the time, and Harold did…he did. This is coming from a black woman.
So, as it turns out, Canada's version is way different than the one shown here in America. There's a scene where Lashawna made a comment about her body while talking to Heather near the showers. I think it was the episode where Harold saw Heather's chest in that ski challenge. Also I remember she was literally wearing lingerie as pajamas knowing she's canonically a teenager in the show. As a kid I was so happy for her and Harold but rewatching it as an adult is just awkward. The comments he makes to her just make me wonder who even created the script 😳
Frankly, Season 4 and the Ridonculous Race have their problems (like the DID representation, Lightning’s VA and the Haters/Daters storyline) that are worth looking into it but apart from that they’re good seasons. Also, the couples are way less toxic (especially Samkota and Crimsonnui, the MOST unproblematic ones in the whole series). Season 5 however has worse problems (the DID was bearable and kind of accurate in season 4 but season five has the evil alter trope and there is sibling abuse in the first episodes of season 5.2 and the abuser doesn’t actually get punished) and it has so much bad writing it’s nearly unbearable. They could make a good video subject, but if you don’t want to watch them it’s totally fine, I mean, you’re the captain and I’m not your first mate.
Always absolutely hated this couple. I hated Harold in general as he was uncomfortable and creepy, but when this happened, hell nah. Leshawna deserved so much better and I can't believe this couple even happened at all. By far my least favorite overall.
honestly i thought this ship was cute when i was younger, honestly sam and dakota is this ship done right, a sweet nerdy guy who loves a beautiful girl, even when she becomes a mutant he loves her for who she is, if only this ship could have been like that, i thought it woudla been like that when harold asked her if they could still talk that they'd be friends and progress into a relationship naturally, but nope, they took away that hope from me immediately after lmao
Holy shit, Barnum's atrocities seem to know no bounds. I was unaware of what happened to Sarah! Then again, perhaps I didn't look quite deep enough into what he did. Absolutely would love to see your take on The Greatest Showman! Even before knowing Barnum was a real person, the movie was giving me very shady vibes from a disabled lens.
This is my first time hearing about sarah baartman and holy shit her story is disturbing...im not a black woman myself, can only imagine how even more disturbing it would be as one 🤢 But now Im really curious and Im gonna look more into it Thanks for bringing attention to these kinds of things, I totally agree that we need to acknowledge the things in history that make us uncomfortable to actually evolve from them. Its frustrating to see a lack of that.
Had a vague memory of her sleepwear and looked it up to make sure i wasnt misremembering and oh no She has (iirc) the MOST sexualized sleepwear, like the other girls are wearing tank tops, crop tops and tshirts with either sleeping shorts/pants or undies and shes wearing a see thru nightie im....
I am not black, so i did not pick up on the fetish aspect. To me what made the relationship offensive was how it was clearly a joke. Like ooo look at the skinny dweeb romance and be head over heels for the curvy twice his size black girl. Look at the freaks mingle. But from what I remember, the angle was a mockery of him more than her.
Based on looking at these comments I can understand everyone's frustration and offense to how Harold handled Leshawna throughout the seasons to a degree. As a black male, when watching TDI for the first time I totally bypassed Harold's remark to Leshawna when he had seen her for the first time. (I was about maybe 9 at the time.) Looking back at it now as a 22 yr old, I can wholeheartedly agree that it was pretty inappropriate & unnecessary to say when meeting teammates for the very first time and giving a good impression. These two are well written characters and to his day I don't think that the writers intended to make this specific relationship a complete fetishization from 1 individual. After Harold's elimination, he clearly confesses his feelings in a subtle kind of way. Not much is explained, but before the episode ends, Chef makes mention in the confessional that what Harold wrote on the note was "spicy" potentially meaning that he could have wrote something too freaky to be said on TV. (considering that CN censored a lot of things in the series anyway.) Later on in TDA, he does say something very questionable in one of the confessionals that CN had to censor because it was a bit much for PG-13 standards. All in all, I truly think that Harold did get beside himself at times, but to be the creep that the audience make him out to be towards Leshawna is completely FALSE. I'm all for the writers putting characters that are unlikely to be together, together. Relationships in TD is probably one of the best and worst implementations they've added to the series. Best is executed correctly, and worst if executed horribly. In this case, this is neutral.
Hot take: This couple has potential. Harold just needs time to grow up and mature. But Harold x Leshawna is one of the few TD couples that actually could work later in life.
tbh I ALWAYS hated Leshawna and Harold. First off, I hate the trope of "nerdy boy constantly hits on girl despite her explicitly saying she's not interested". It's gross and unfunny. W.I.T.C.H. did it, too, unfortunately with Irma and Martin. Secondly, that trope got dialed all the way up to red flags because of Harold's fetishization. I know it's getting revived, so I really hope that they do away with Harold/Leshawna and instead focus on a Courtney and Leshawna friendship. Their crumbs in Island...truly a missed opportunity
I'd love to see your take on greatest showman. What that man did to elephants was rancid enough but what he did to people was heinous and they really tried to glorify him for that lmao
You were the first person who pointed out to me what was wrong with Harold and Leshawna's relationship and I haven't been able to unsee since and I'm glad of it. I think the writers were parodying Kip and Lafawnduh's relationship from Napoleon Dynamite, and though I haven't seen that movie in years I'm a bit concerned how that film has aged if this is what a parody of their relationship looks like
What's funny is that the girl from Top Model that you're referring to is also named Tiffany. What really sucks is that Leshawna COULD have been a great representation because Leshawna usually has a strong moral compass and stands up for people that are being picked on, but there is soooooo much baggage in the form of negative stereotypes (and misogynoir in the case of TDA) that many people rightfully cannot get past. Likewise with the relationship with Harold. In the hands of competent writers, we COULD have had an arc where Harold learns how not to fetishize Leshawna and love her in a more genuine way that actually values her as a person. But that would require an understanding of how fetishization of black women works and... we know that Teletoon don't know nothin bout that.
there are really just no words when it comes to stories like that. i hadn't known about venus and that story but i am familiar with other stories of these museums, human zoos, etc. that are similarly just.. awful. particularly with this inuit boy named minik who was kidnapped with his father and some other adults to be "studied" at the american museum of natural history. his father and these other adults died of tb and they staged a "proper burial" of the father before putting his remains on display in the museum. minik was adopted by someone working at the museum who had a part in this staged burial, minik eventually learned what happened but in his lifetime he never saw justice for his father. at the very least, his father eventually got a proper burial, but that was only in 1993. like this may be a tangent from the original subject of the video but being indigenous i find that it's a really close-to-home topic that way too often goes unacknowledged. museums, anthropologists, the entertainment industry, all have blood on their hands and it can't just be swept under the rug. and yeah, fuck p.t. barnum. i hated that movie when it came out and for the life of me i can't comprehend how somebody could sit down and consider that a feel-good movie. i'm gonna like end this comment though because i'm talking a lot but like point is great video!!!
As a kid, I was weirded out by their relationship because the relationship felt one-sided (She was shown to be uninterested in him) but as I got older, I had a feeling Harold fetishizes LeShawna because she's black after remembering some comments about her. Since many people stated he's clearly never seen a black woman in real life, I'm not surprised that Harold fetishizes LeShawna. People tend to fetishize people of a particular race because they rarely or never see them in real life which is horrifying. I know from personal experience and it makes me scared to go to places where there aren't a lot of other Asians. I remember in one of Harold's porta-potty interviews, Harold complimented LeShawna's eyes and said "Her beautiful brown eyes as brown as chocolate" and then he covered his mouth, knowing that it was creepy of him to say.
I just want to say, thank you for sharing the play. I am not black and will never have the experience of a black women but the fact that someone can be used and abused so much simply because of the way they are viewed is so disheartening. To be honest, when I was 10 and watching this show, I kinda did wonder if he just viewed her as a sex object rather then a human but since I’m still a person of color and since I love interracial relationships, I definitely did brush it aside and I really hate when people will try to talk over black women and their experiences just because they don’t see it or they chose to be blind to it. I thank you so much for sharing this, I definitely want to give the play a read.
Sarah Baartman!! I wrote some of my best essays about her! There is even a movie about her, "Black Venus", or "Venus Noir" RUclips! It's not exactly a documentary--it's more of a drama. But the ending still chills me, that much is completely, and horribly accurate. They surgically chopped her up and preserved her parts separately for individual analysis. It took forever for her country to reclaim them for burial, in 2002. In life, she wasn't treated like a human. She was a fetishized, humiliated attraction. *In death, she was a science project.*
Harold and Leshawna could have become better...if the writers got their head out their butts. She didn't like him, he obsessed over her. We as the audience became used to it and some started supporting it. I know I do. A lot of my favorite ships (Trent x Gwen, Courtney and Justin, Izzy and Owen) were ruined over time. They either start off good and then become toxic or start of toxic then become worse? Or at least they brush off the the problemic aspect and don't address it. They honestly did a lot of characters dirty. They had black women and men with all types of personalities. But like, did not really flesh them out after a certain point. There are real life Leshawnas (yes, I'm a black woman. I liked and still like her character. I wished they did more with her.)
I couldn’t decide for the life of me why I didn’t look back at LaShawna as fondly as I did other black characters I saw as a kid. It’s because she was literally nothing but the stereotypical sassy black woman who has an attitude problem and whose boyfriend did nothing but fetishize her. Also Lawshawna’s dialogue makes me wonder if the writers have even MET a black person.
Harold's character is one big reference to Napoleon Dynamite, a really big movie at the time, and Leshawna unfortunately was pulled into his orbit by proxy. There's a running joke in the movie about Napoleon's older brother Kip constantly bragging about his online girlfriend despite being even _more_ pathetic and ugly than Napoleon himself. At the very end of the movie you find out that his girlfriend, a hot black girl named LaFawnduh (yes really), was real the entire time and is completely enamored by him, with the joke being that she's obviously way too good for him to the point that she seemed fake until she literally shows up to marry him. I guess they only had one black girl they cared to make a "character" out of in TDI, and paired her with this Napoleon proxy after the fact thoughtlessly in order to add to the references. Like, LaFawnduh herself was skinny, so this fetishism of Leshawna is unique to her and her curvy body. That its portrayal brought up such traumatic history for you is heartbreaking to see, and it should serve as a very sobering reminder for all of us white people that no matter how "innocent" or mundane we think we're being, we _always_ have the capacity to cause real harm and we should be more aware of this rather than dismissive.
You have taught me so much. I've never heard of Sarach Baartman until now. Its extremely heartbreaking knowing how that actually happened. Keep on making these ducational videos. I love them.
As a white woman, I just wanted to thank you for making videos such as this one. You and your videos have taught me so much about black history and the ways in which black women, both past and present, have been treated. I try my best to educate myself on black history and your videos are one of the ways in which I do that. Keep up the amazing work Harriyanna!
Thank you for making these videos :) It helped me realize the DISGUSTING way my ex treated me and the things he said... It unlocked some memories, not pleasant, but ones I had to reflect on. I'm biracial, half white half Alaskan Native; but I have pale white skin, like a ghost lol.
14:36 Honestly, TGSM shouldn't had been made. I did an argumentive paper about the ableism of Hollywood and I read about what he did to the people working at his shows and my jaw dropped. Edit: YESS!!!! PLEASE MAKE A VIDEO ABOUT IT!!!! MORE PEOPLE DESERVE TO KNOW!!
I am all here for the roast on PT Barnum. Please do it. It is well deserved. All these points were solid and I definitely always learn a thing or two from every video I see. I appreciate the time, effort, and energy you put into these videos because it is not yours nor anyone else's job to teach on these things, but you do it anyway.
Wow I just randomly came across your video through the algorithm- and I really enjoyed it! I am definitely gonna give Venus a read/watch. I am a huge reader- and I do read a lot of classic literature but I am admittedly lacking in my knowledge of black female writers and trying to fix it. And I am now gonna read through her work! So thanks for the cool video and playwright recommendation!
I didn't know about Sara Bartman until you spoke about her and I'm glad that you did. I do remember watching Monster House where Constance was a big woman that was caged up in circus. I wonder if they got the inspiration from Sara Bartman. I really think this subject needs to be talked about more and I appreciate that you brought it up to the surface.
14:43 I actually didn’t know the full story (along with all the kids I know) but when I found out yikes They even portray Jenny lynn as the villain despite all the amazing things she did, I didn’t know Barnum was a real man at first and when I did I assumed he was good
I remember the first time I heard of Sara Bartman I was in the 4th grade and one of my sisters recommended that I looked her up and wrote about her for a report for black history month(at my all white private catholic school) and when I first looked her up I started crying because of what they did to her and it made my heart hurt so much but regardless I wrote about her and handed it in and I got a good grade but my teacher was a bit uncomfortable because of the pictures I chose to use to describe her(she was a white Italian woman there were a lot of them in my school) and asked why I chose to write about her and I told her it was because I felt similar to her because of how my body looked compared to every one else(the children in my grade were either white, white hispanics, Asian or Indian I was the only Afro Latina there and some of my teachers would call me out for not wearing the right type of school pants because I couldn’t fit into the ones provided for us I would wear my school pants from cookies and was always called out for it or sent home with a note to my parents almost every year by my teacher or some other staff up until my parents came in and or wrote a note confronting them for how they were picking on me after I told her that she stayed quiet and told me to return to my seat
I'm not black, but I am a big girl. We all forget Katie & Sadie (Sadie is probably "bigger" than Leshawna), because they are flat characters to be quickly voted off the show, so we overlook them from the start. I loved Leshawna the moment she arrived, as I don't have any confidence like she does, and her entrance was awe-inspiring. The Harold part, being a cartoon Napoleon Dynamite, always annoyed me, especially with his interactions with Leshawna. I didn't know this was a thing, later knowing someone who was real-life Harold. We are no longer speaking, but his obvious fetishising of black women was gross, and he didn't see the problem in it. He was also a woman-hating bigot, but that's another problem. I also hated how they did Leshawna dirty in season 2, I mainly forget season 2 because they made all the previously likable characters jerks. I never heard of Sarah Baartman, I thought you were referencing a fiction story, at first. Now knowing her story, its enraging.
Your hair is so pretty omg...You always look fabulous, I aspire to take care of myself like that ^w^ !!! Also yea this relationship always made me really uncomfortable too. I physically cringed when he first met her. Harold is just kind of weird in general and not in the good way
Yo, African here. The thing about "revealing" clothes in my culture as a Nigerian, is that it's not even revealing or meant to be sexulised. For example some African attire left the torso open. Breasts were seen as normal. We don't question a man topless and we didn't question a woman topless too. And it made sense. Our babies feed from our breasts so why would we sexulised something like that? Until the white man can along and sexulised it.
oh my gosh, your comments about the greatest showman,, I wouldn’t mind a video on that, that movie felt very sensationalized. thank you for this video btw, those commenters are right when they say your videos are very informative. and as a white girl, I 100% believe you and your points in this video. also I hope you have a nice day!
please make a video about the greatest showman! in my elementary school we sang the greatest showman's song all the time and i'd really like your take on him. your videos are so informational and refreshing and i appreciate how you have the energy to post every now and then. stay hydrated, and feel free to take breaks! :D
I personally do like this ship although I do see some faults in it. Hopefully this video could help teach me how I could possibly fix this dynamic in my AU. Thanks for the advice Harri!!
I'm happy to see you again, Harriyanna Hook. Great video by the way. I do think Tyler and Lindsay's relationship is probably the healthiest and most stable relationship in Total Drama.
Damn!!!! I knew the basics of Saarje's(I think that's how you spell her real name) story, but my jaw dropped so fast when I heard she got thrown in prison and died there because that pig made her sickly! What a humiliating way to go out😞
I am realizing more and more that TD is more about character studies about horrible tropes than actually being a "good" show. love the series and characters for the most part but then we get stuff like this. i actually like this "relationship" in that it really highlights how this sort of dynamic is AWFUL and RACIST. of course the show doesn't do that but we have you Harriyanna and other black pop/culture "dissectors" to show the new generations that this isn't right.
Intersting- I agree a lot in the show aged poorly - there’s a lot of stereotypes and bad relationships in this show. I actually always liked Lashawna and Harold, and I had never thought about the issues you were talking about! ( also, I have only seen the first season)
Pleaseeee,make a video talking about the greatest show! This movie bothered me SO MUCH!! As a autistic latin person,this movie made me mad,mainly because of this trashy man and everything that he did.
As much as Harold is Leshawna's secret admirer when he gave her a letter, I also really admire the relationship between them, but not as much as Tyler and Lindsay.
I think I first learned of her through like, a tumblr post talking about her finally being buried. It was just so sickening, and kept reminding me of how footnote-y things like human zoos and shit were in my every history book. Like they were nothing, a quirk of the past. One thing that happened once and not a trend hardly disguised
I'm so pleasantly surprised to hear Suzan Lorrie Parks referenced such a great playwright. And you are so right with leshawna. Her mannerisms, her body, and her aesthetics was used as a joke and was completely exploited in the show. It really added a layer of toxicity in my relationship with the show overall. Thanks for being real and sharing important history and works with in the context of your passion and videos!
can you please make a video talking about lightning from total drama revenge of the island? when i was younger, i loved him and he did not deserve his derailment in all stars. but now that i get older, i realize he was a very offensive character. for starters, the whole ‘sha’ catchphrase was extremely racist. another thing is that he was the only male character with visible lips and butt and the fact that his lips and butt were bigger than some of the girls on the show is insane. lastly, in his ending of total drama revenge of the island, he says “you can call me white lightning!” because his hair turned white because he got struck by lightning, and that is very wrong for to reasons. 1. if you got struck by lightning you would either be severely injured or worse die and 2. your hair would not turn white. but what hurts me about that line is that i feel like he is being white washed by having colored hair. i know celebrities of color like Beyoncé and Shakira bleached their hair to stand out in the industry, but it honestly just hurts. I prefer people of color with their natural dark hair instead of trying to look more white to please others. with that being said i agree with this statement and i am glad someone is speaking out about this. thank you harriyanna hook your are amazing ❤️.
@@awsomedude23456 i understand about the hair part and that was just my personal opinion. but the fact that his genetics are over exaggerated is definitely racist.
@@awsomedude23456 yea but he was even more sexualized than justin and alejandro, 2 men of color who were portrayed terribly. but out of all 3 of them, lightning had it the worst.
I read the play in my first year of college in a feminist theatre class. It was probably the craziest story I have ever learned about. Knowing they kept her body on display for so long. It wasnt until recently her body was laid to rest. One of the stories they dont talk about in highschool.
I loved your thoughts on this! That relationship always rubbed me wrong when I was young but then getting older and rewatching it I would always cringe when Harold would talk about or to Leshawna. Learning about the play Venus it totally gives even more perspective to the fetishization of black women and they way women are fetishized. It was really crazy to hear that.
Harold definitely had never seen a Black woman in real life before Leshawna-- his first words to her were literally "I've never seen a woman like you in real life before" immediately before calling her "big and loud" which was 😬... their relationship always made me so uncomfortable because Leshawna made it clear that she didn't wanna be in a relationship with him even though she liked him and he continued to operate as though she was his girlfriend despite that. The fetishy shit on top of the complete disrespect of boundaries was just soooo bad.
Amen to that. I never realised how terrible Harold's fetishism over Leshawna was, but what he did went beyond fetishising her. He was overly objectifying her without considering her feelings as a fellow human being. By the way, I also learned about Sarah Baartman, and her story was indubitably tragic. The fact that she was abused like that because of her bodily condition and was treated like a sideshow just makes me realise how people can be cruel just for their own sick pleasure.
literally couldnt have said it better myself, this ship ALWAYS made me uncomfortable
@meadow 🕊 jesus thats disgusting, how was that even allowed?? especially with how chris is older than her??
Same, i never shipped them, they were so weird and out of place together
Tyler and Lindsay were the most healthiest and unproblematic couple in gen 1. Sure Lindsay forget his name often but they never really fought or cause drama with each other.
Edit : wtf got this so many likes
Right he really liked her unconditionally and even if she forgot his name she was always happy to see him and be around him
yeah honestly they are so underrated. it's a given Lindsay will forget his name, that's just how she is, they're pretty cute
lyler 4 eva
I get what u mean but I could not get past the fact that she was so forgetful of him 😂😂😂😭😭😭😭
If i recall correctly wasn't it because Heather threw a canoe at her implying she had a concussion? I remember it only starting after that bc it was when they left to go kiss somewhere
Harriyanna, please stop saying there's no one worthy enough to be your first mate when there's a cute dog literally in your intro sequence who radiates first mate energy.
Lol
To anyone who wants to do further watching on Sarah Baartman, I reccomend the video by Ask a Mortician. It is heavy subject matter, but important historical perspective on disrespect to the dead, particularly black women.
As for my favorite part of the video, like I said in the live chat, you are so right about the adultification. That totally opened my eyes. It was always clear that Harold and Lashawna were a sort of parody of fetishization, but you're right, that's not appropriate, and so less appropriate when it is teens (and meant to entertain children). The other teens were just not treated that way.
I love Ask A Mortician
Harold x Leshawna never grew on me in the slightest, for it was annoying, uncalled for, and kind of sick. When it came to romantic relationships on Total Drama Island, I was constantly leaning towards Trent x Gwen and Geoff x Bridgette.
His name is spelt geoff?? I thought it was jeff lmao
@@n3ssaa__ Yup. Surprising to know that his name can be spelled as either Jeff or Geoff.
@chanel ୨୧ Perhaps I defended them because they looked aesthetically beautiful together.
@chanel ୨୧ YUP LMAO
@chanel ★̶̲ right and then she ended up cheating on him with Alejandro 🙄
i just want to say as a white woman the videos you make are more educating than a lifetime of experience , we truly could not get this insight without people like you standing up. Thank you for all the wisdom Harri u deserve the best
I love the connection you made to “Venus”. You are dead on. You can see direct ties between the play and the TV show. She is the curviest girl on the show and there was a total fixation on her body. Thinking about the writing room and the animation makes me so uncomfortable. What were the writers saying in the room while working on it.
thank you for understanding. cause some people didn't get it and it had me frustrated ngl.
Saartjie's story is so many levels of disturbing. Her body was taken and put on display as a novelty and it's just... Horrible. Her humanity was entirely cast aside.
I keep thinking about this scene in the end of Introducing Dorothy Dandridge where she died and the paparazzi was about to take vulture photos and her agent pleaded with them don't 💔
Also look up info about The Starr Report if you wanna be even more mad. Made me mad.
Ik this was a month ago but fr I couldn't imagine how she felt about herself 😔
Crimson and ennui are definitely one of the most healthy couples in the series
I know a lot of people probably didn't watch The Ridonculous Race, but the are for sure the healthiest couple in the franchise. In fact, they are the only couple that didn't fight on screen
They are one of my (goth) couple goals. Crimson and Ennui loved each other for who they are (both on and outside of their make-up) and were generally helpful to those who needed it when they weren't being generally apathetic.
@@syria0110 there’s also Samkota
In Island they were definitely a nice couple from the poems but in Action Harold did the most irredeemable stuff to her like naming a snail after her and just not fully respecting her
Wait what is the context for the snail? Does he like snails or did he do it to be mean
@@rinibunny4576 He thought the snail had beautiful eyes and a round behind, so he named it after her. He liked the snail
@@awsomedude23456 I agree, I'm a Harold apologist lol. Mah boy did nothing wrong, he legitimately liked Leshawna for who she was.
@@bradbradly9388 he didn’t like her as a person though, he didn’t actually like her he liked the image of her and loved the idea of being with her- that’s objectification
remember he deadass voted her off the show instead of voting his own bully, he's the reason she lost 1 million dollars.
It's sickening how we never hear this side of history at school. I want to hear more about the terrible history of black women and disabled people. Why should we keep this hidden? So awful. I'm glad I don't like the greatest showman, I'm sick of stories like Pocahontas being whitened and "good".
There's a really great documentary called 'Crip Camp' about an important time in disability rights history in the US, where the one-time students of a well known summer camp for disabled children come together to demonstrate for change and bring about some of the most important disability legislation in the US at that time. It's great if you're interested in a starting point fir learning more about disability rights in the US.
Wait what happened with the greatest showman?
@@los3r426 It glamorizes PT Barnum and makes him look like a much better person than he actually was. PT abused a black woman who he called “the nanny of George Washington” (he abused her to keep her looking old). He told everyone she was over 100 years old. When she died, he held a public autopsy of her body for money. Also, he committed lots and lots of animal abuse.
@@los3r426 Takes this from someone who loves the soundtrack of the movie. The story and real life counter part it was based on was far from liberating and celebrating the beauty of diversity. PT Barnum who co-owned Barnum and Bailey's circus was actually notorious for exploiting people of colour and those with disabilities. A prime example is a very elderly black lady who was in his circus that Barnum claimed was hundreds of years old and was the nurse of George Washington. He was someone who created false images of people he deemed worthy of holding the title 'freaks', allowing people to treat them like a novelty and look at them like they were a sideshow attraction
I do agree with you, Harri. Leshawna was racially offensive to black girls/women, just like Lightning (TDROTI) was racially offensive to black boys/men; especially when I found out that he was voiced by a white man doing a blaccent (black accent) years ago. And because of that, I was just over with Total Drama.
omg i loved lightning but i cant believe he was voiced by a white guy!!! thats so racist!!!
wait... WHAT? Lightning was voiced by a WHITE guy????!!
@Cartoonlover 447 I wish I was lying, but unfortunately, I'm not. If you want to, you can look it up yourself.
@@devontamosley4487 i believe you
My jaw dropped when I read this. I had no idea that he was voiced by a white guy, good God in Heaven WHY??
I loved LeShawna but yeahhhhh.
They did her dirty in more ways beyond the competition itself.
It's like how I've been watching One Piece lately and they had a whole flashback sequence about how mermaids were fetishized and enslaved by sailors, and even after hearing this, one of the main pirates continues to drool over any mermaid he meets. Just sub in "mermaid" for "WOC" and that's pretty much exactly how fetishization works to my understanding. You don't love them for who they are, you just want a mermaid.
To be fair at least his character stays consistent with all women not just mermaids 🤷🏾♀️
Ngl Sanji's character is destroyed after the Thriller Bark arc. He turned into another generic anime pervert. I liked him more as a "simp" who respects women to an absurd amount. The Whole Cake Island arc really saved his character, at least for me
i just know harry calling leshawna “my chocolate queen” and he fetishizes black girls 😭🤢.
probbaly ezekiel too
The channel “ask a mortician” did a good in depth video about Saartj and her life. It’s a little short but I think it’s worth watching if you’re curious
Even though Leshawna is one of my favorite Total Drama characters, it’s hard to ignore the fact that she is in-fact an offensive stereotype.😕
@@awsomedude23456 but a RACIAL stereotype is completely different than a general stereotype tho…
She’s an accurate one. They have other black characters that act nothing like her so I’d have to say no
The way she went home was crazy, just for no reason. It was like they couldn’t have a Black woman at the end so they had to literally write her out with a mistake that everyone made??? Disgusting.
we can't affirm that.
maybe they thought that another character was better to the finale?
you arent wrong, but you arent right either
I honestly was disgusted and grossed out when Leshawna and Harold just hooked up like that. Now I have more reasons to hate their ship and the TD writers. Thank you for this video!
When you brought up Sarah Baartman, it all clicked for me because the jokes about Leshawna's body used to make me so uncomfortable.
girl is anything okay?! ‼️‼️😭😭😭😭
💀
LMAO💀💀💀😭
A lot of things are not okay. That's the truth.
This was fetishization at its finest, I’m always blowed to find out how problematic old cartoons were and how it went over a lot of the audiences head.
and that's why i disagree with interracial dating between white people and poc ppl in general. i just think it's wrong bc it can lead to very real problems like this pretty much.
@@ogome2927 bro If two people of different races love each other’s why shouldn’t they be together?
@@realshaggy6984 most of the time that love is blind love, and again i don’t really mind it between other ethnic minorities it’s when it’s between white and any other ethnic minority that i disagree with it pretty much bc i’ve seen more of the bad side to it then good
@@ogome2927 dude not all white people are bad
@@realshaggy6984 most are tho lol
Harold and Chris gotta be the two most creepiest cartoon characters known to man. Another note, fetishization of any race, ethnicity, and gender is never ok or respectable. Treat black women better
I became familiar with Sarah Baartman when I was in middle school and not even in school, but through RUclips. Harold really wasn't shit on TD and fetishized the hell out of Leshawna. I honestly didn't even remember him hitting Courtney because of her 🤦🏽♀️
and that's why i disagree with interracial dating between white people and poc ppl in general. i just think it's wrong bc it can lead to very real problems like this pretty much.
@@ogome2927 like with there are problems with Heather and Alejandro, and Duncan and Courtney? They are one of the interracial couples on the show.
@@JoyOgbatue yes and there are many problems that come with them lol as couples. see how they're very toxic and very love/hate.
He didn’t hit Courtney, that was an error on her part
@@ogome2927 not all interracial relationships are bad, I have a lot in my family and I’m in one now.
HARRI CAME BACK AND SAID IT'S DINNER TIME😆
Jesus that story about Sara was really scary. But stories, plays, and movies, that are based off from real life events or time periods, just shows how cruel humanity and reality is. I just watched nightingale and that movie is the definition of unfiltered brutal honestly of how harsh times were back then. But times now aren't better either, history is repeating itself and people don't learned from their mistakes.
Yes! I’d love for you to do a video on The Greatest Showman. It pissed me off how much they glorified him
The only thing I remember about their relationship is when Harold released that snail he named after her into the wild and basically was like "Go! Be free!" While sobbing his eyes out. When I was little, I felt bad for him, however, remembering that scene now just makes me cringe.
As soon as I heard him say that Leshawna was 'big and loud', I clicked off the episode and never watched that show again because I knew that it would be hard to enjoy.
i am so glad you made a video about this. total drama is one of my all time favorite animated shows and as a teenager while rewatching it for yet another time even i realized as a nonblack person that holy crap.... the leshawna/harold relationship was very problematic and was very much a white man fetishizing a black woman. and in general the more i looked at leshawna's character, i was like. wow. this seems... offensive? and i had seen black women before criticizing leshawna's characterization and i was like wow yeah. if i see any leshawna discourse come up in the future (yes, it still happens) i am referring everyone to this video.
also you mention an interest in talking about pt barnum/the greatest showman and i am very interested in that! he was a horrible person. racist, ableist, intersexist, and so on.
I was a teen when TDI aired, and while I understood why she was the way she was, it didn’t mean I liked her. She was a walking, breathing stereotype of black cliches popular at the time, and Harold did…he did. This is coming from a black woman.
So, as it turns out, Canada's version is way different than the one shown here in America. There's a scene where Lashawna made a comment about her body while talking to Heather near the showers. I think it was the episode where Harold saw Heather's chest in that ski challenge. Also I remember she was literally wearing lingerie as pajamas knowing she's canonically a teenager in the show. As a kid I was so happy for her and Harold but rewatching it as an adult is just awkward. The comments he makes to her just make me wonder who even created the script 😳
you should read Fearing the Black Body, it goes into what happened to Sarah Baartman
Frankly, Season 4 and the Ridonculous Race have their problems (like the DID representation, Lightning’s VA and the Haters/Daters storyline) that are worth looking into it but apart from that they’re good seasons. Also, the couples are way less toxic (especially Samkota and Crimsonnui, the MOST unproblematic ones in the whole series). Season 5 however has worse problems (the DID was bearable and kind of accurate in season 4 but season five has the evil alter trope and there is sibling abuse in the first episodes of season 5.2 and the abuser doesn’t actually get punished) and it has so much bad writing it’s nearly unbearable. They could make a good video subject, but if you don’t want to watch them it’s totally fine, I mean, you’re the captain and I’m not your first mate.
Always absolutely hated this couple. I hated Harold in general as he was uncomfortable and creepy, but when this happened, hell nah. Leshawna deserved so much better and I can't believe this couple even happened at all. By far my least favorite overall.
honestly i thought this ship was cute when i was younger, honestly sam and dakota is this ship done right, a sweet nerdy guy who loves a beautiful girl, even when she becomes a mutant he loves her for who she is, if only this ship could have been like that, i thought it woudla been like that when harold asked her if they could still talk that they'd be friends and progress into a relationship naturally, but nope, they took away that hope from me immediately after lmao
Holy shit, Barnum's atrocities seem to know no bounds. I was unaware of what happened to Sarah! Then again, perhaps I didn't look quite deep enough into what he did. Absolutely would love to see your take on The Greatest Showman! Even before knowing Barnum was a real person, the movie was giving me very shady vibes from a disabled lens.
This is my first time hearing about sarah baartman and holy shit her story is disturbing...im not a black woman myself, can only imagine how even more disturbing it would be as one 🤢 But now Im really curious and Im gonna look more into it
Thanks for bringing attention to these kinds of things, I totally agree that we need to acknowledge the things in history that make us uncomfortable to actually evolve from them. Its frustrating to see a lack of that.
Had a vague memory of her sleepwear and looked it up to make sure i wasnt misremembering and oh no
She has (iirc) the MOST sexualized sleepwear, like the other girls are wearing tank tops, crop tops and tshirts with either sleeping shorts/pants or undies and shes wearing a see thru nightie im....
Excuse me but why is the teenager wearing that?
I am not black, so i did not pick up on the fetish aspect. To me what made the relationship offensive was how it was clearly a joke. Like ooo look at the skinny dweeb romance and be head over heels for the curvy twice his size black girl. Look at the freaks mingle. But from what I remember, the angle was a mockery of him more than her.
Based on looking at these comments I can understand everyone's frustration and offense to how Harold handled Leshawna throughout the seasons to a degree. As a black male, when watching TDI for the first time I totally bypassed Harold's remark to Leshawna when he had seen her for the first time. (I was about maybe 9 at the time.) Looking back at it now as a 22 yr old, I can wholeheartedly agree that it was pretty inappropriate & unnecessary to say when meeting teammates for the very first time and giving a good impression. These two are well written characters and to his day I don't think that the writers intended to make this specific relationship a complete fetishization from 1 individual. After Harold's elimination, he clearly confesses his feelings in a subtle kind of way. Not much is explained, but before the episode ends, Chef makes mention in the confessional that what Harold wrote on the note was "spicy" potentially meaning that he could have wrote something too freaky to be said on TV. (considering that CN censored a lot of things in the series anyway.) Later on in TDA, he does say something very questionable in one of the confessionals that CN had to censor because it was a bit much for PG-13 standards. All in all, I truly think that Harold did get beside himself at times, but to be the creep that the audience make him out to be towards Leshawna is completely FALSE. I'm all for the writers putting characters that are unlikely to be together, together. Relationships in TD is probably one of the best and worst implementations they've added to the series. Best is executed correctly, and worst if executed horribly. In this case, this is neutral.
"it's always paris"
-harriyanna hook
you're right
Hot take: This couple has potential. Harold just needs time to grow up and mature. But Harold x Leshawna is one of the few TD couples that actually could work later in life.
tbh I ALWAYS hated Leshawna and Harold. First off, I hate the trope of "nerdy boy constantly hits on girl despite her explicitly saying she's not interested". It's gross and unfunny. W.I.T.C.H. did it, too, unfortunately with Irma and Martin. Secondly, that trope got dialed all the way up to red flags because of Harold's fetishization. I know it's getting revived, so I really hope that they do away with Harold/Leshawna and instead focus on a Courtney and Leshawna friendship. Their crumbs in Island...truly a missed opportunity
Ah hall nah Harold's lips are overlapping leshawnas lips
I'm dead 🤣
Quality animation
I'd love to see your take on greatest showman. What that man did to elephants was rancid enough but what he did to people was heinous and they really tried to glorify him for that lmao
You were the first person who pointed out to me what was wrong with Harold and Leshawna's relationship and I haven't been able to unsee since and I'm glad of it. I think the writers were parodying Kip and Lafawnduh's relationship from Napoleon Dynamite, and though I haven't seen that movie in years I'm a bit concerned how that film has aged if this is what a parody of their relationship looks like
What's funny is that the girl from Top Model that you're referring to is also named Tiffany.
What really sucks is that Leshawna COULD have been a great representation because Leshawna usually has a strong moral compass and stands up for people that are being picked on, but there is soooooo much baggage in the form of negative stereotypes (and misogynoir in the case of TDA) that many people rightfully cannot get past.
Likewise with the relationship with Harold. In the hands of competent writers, we COULD have had an arc where Harold learns how not to fetishize Leshawna and love her in a more genuine way that actually values her as a person.
But that would require an understanding of how fetishization of black women works and... we know that Teletoon don't know nothin bout that.
there are really just no words when it comes to stories like that. i hadn't known about venus and that story but i am familiar with other stories of these museums, human zoos, etc. that are similarly just.. awful. particularly with this inuit boy named minik who was kidnapped with his father and some other adults to be "studied" at the american museum of natural history. his father and these other adults died of tb and they staged a "proper burial" of the father before putting his remains on display in the museum. minik was adopted by someone working at the museum who had a part in this staged burial, minik eventually learned what happened but in his lifetime he never saw justice for his father.
at the very least, his father eventually got a proper burial, but that was only in 1993. like this may be a tangent from the original subject of the video but being indigenous i find that it's a really close-to-home topic that way too often goes unacknowledged. museums, anthropologists, the entertainment industry, all have blood on their hands and it can't just be swept under the rug. and yeah, fuck p.t. barnum. i hated that movie when it came out and for the life of me i can't comprehend how somebody could sit down and consider that a feel-good movie. i'm gonna like end this comment though because i'm talking a lot but like point is great video!!!
As a kid, I was weirded out by their relationship because the relationship felt one-sided (She was shown to be uninterested in him) but as I got older, I had a feeling Harold fetishizes LeShawna because she's black after remembering some comments about her.
Since many people stated he's clearly never seen a black woman in real life, I'm not surprised that Harold fetishizes LeShawna. People tend to fetishize people of a particular race because they rarely or never see them in real life which is horrifying.
I know from personal experience and it makes me scared to go to places where there aren't a lot of other Asians.
I remember in one of Harold's porta-potty interviews, Harold complimented LeShawna's eyes and said "Her beautiful brown eyes as brown as chocolate" and then he covered his mouth, knowing that it was creepy of him to say.
I just want to say, thank you for sharing the play. I am not black and will never have the experience of a black women but the fact that someone can be used and abused so much simply because of the way they are viewed is so disheartening. To be honest, when I was 10 and watching this show, I kinda did wonder if he just viewed her as a sex object rather then a human but since I’m still a person of color and since I love interracial relationships, I definitely did brush it aside and I really hate when people will try to talk over black women and their experiences just because they don’t see it or they chose to be blind to it. I thank you so much for sharing this, I definitely want to give the play a read.
Sarah Baartman!! I wrote some of my best essays about her! There is even a movie about her, "Black Venus", or "Venus Noir" RUclips! It's not exactly a documentary--it's more of a drama. But the ending still chills me, that much is completely, and horribly accurate. They surgically chopped her up and preserved her parts separately for individual analysis. It took forever for her country to reclaim them for burial, in 2002. In life, she wasn't treated like a human. She was a fetishized, humiliated attraction. *In death, she was a science project.*
Harold and Leshawna could have become better...if the writers got their head out their butts. She didn't like him, he obsessed over her. We as the audience became used to it and some started supporting it. I know I do. A lot of my favorite ships (Trent x Gwen, Courtney and Justin, Izzy and Owen) were ruined over time. They either start off good and then become toxic or start of toxic then become worse? Or at least they brush off the the problemic aspect and don't address it. They honestly did a lot of characters dirty. They had black women and men with all types of personalities. But like, did not really flesh them out after a certain point. There are real life Leshawnas (yes, I'm a black woman. I liked and still like her character. I wished they did more with her.)
Their relationship gave me the ick. Not because of the race thing,(kinda but not totally). just because they didn’t go together AT ALL.
I couldn’t decide for the life of me why I didn’t look back at LaShawna as fondly as I did other black characters I saw as a kid.
It’s because she was literally nothing but the stereotypical sassy black woman who has an attitude problem and whose boyfriend did nothing but fetishize her.
Also Lawshawna’s dialogue makes me wonder if the writers have even MET a black person.
Harold's character is one big reference to Napoleon Dynamite, a really big movie at the time, and Leshawna unfortunately was pulled into his orbit by proxy.
There's a running joke in the movie about Napoleon's older brother Kip constantly bragging about his online girlfriend despite being even _more_ pathetic and ugly than Napoleon himself. At the very end of the movie you find out that his girlfriend, a hot black girl named LaFawnduh (yes really), was real the entire time and is completely enamored by him, with the joke being that she's obviously way too good for him to the point that she seemed fake until she literally shows up to marry him.
I guess they only had one black girl they cared to make a "character" out of in TDI, and paired her with this Napoleon proxy after the fact thoughtlessly in order to add to the references. Like, LaFawnduh herself was skinny, so this fetishism of Leshawna is unique to her and her curvy body.
That its portrayal brought up such traumatic history for you is heartbreaking to see, and it should serve as a very sobering reminder for all of us white people that no matter how "innocent" or mundane we think we're being, we _always_ have the capacity to cause real harm and we should be more aware of this rather than dismissive.
You have taught me so much. I've never heard of Sarach Baartman until now. Its extremely heartbreaking knowing how that actually happened. Keep on making these ducational videos. I love them.
I blame the networks for breaking up Trent and Gwen since they ordered it.
As a white woman, I just wanted to thank you for making videos such as this one. You and your videos have taught me so much about black history and the ways in which black women, both past and present, have been treated. I try my best to educate myself on black history and your videos are one of the ways in which I do that. Keep up the amazing work Harriyanna!
When I got older, I understand why my black mum didn’t let me watch this show as a kid. Harold is such a creep.
Thank you for making these videos :) It helped me realize the DISGUSTING way my ex treated me and the things he said... It unlocked some memories, not pleasant, but ones I had to reflect on. I'm biracial, half white half Alaskan Native; but I have pale white skin, like a ghost lol.
No absolutely NO
17:34
That man was obsessed and infatuated with her body. That is NOT real and genuine love.
14:36 Honestly, TGSM shouldn't had been made. I did an argumentive paper about the ableism of Hollywood and I read about what he did to the people working at his shows and my jaw dropped.
Edit: YESS!!!! PLEASE MAKE A VIDEO ABOUT IT!!!! MORE PEOPLE DESERVE TO KNOW!!
I am all here for the roast on PT Barnum. Please do it. It is well deserved. All these points were solid and I definitely always learn a thing or two from every video I see. I appreciate the time, effort, and energy you put into these videos because it is not yours nor anyone else's job to teach on these things, but you do it anyway.
Wow I just randomly came across your video through the algorithm- and I really enjoyed it! I am definitely gonna give Venus a read/watch. I am a huge reader- and I do read a lot of classic literature but I am admittedly lacking in my knowledge of black female writers and trying to fix it. And I am now gonna read through her work! So thanks for the cool video and playwright recommendation!
thank you so much! and yes i do recommend. you can fine it for free to read!
This is literally the first time I ever heard about Sarah Baartman. Now, I'm speechless after hearing the whole story.
I mean I love both of them and the ship, but I can see where you're coming from
I didn't know about Sara Bartman until you spoke about her and I'm glad that you did. I do remember watching Monster House where Constance was a big woman that was caged up in circus. I wonder if they got the inspiration from Sara Bartman. I really think this subject needs to be talked about more and I appreciate that you brought it up to the surface.
14:43 I actually didn’t know the full story (along with all the kids I know) but when I found out yikes
They even portray Jenny lynn as the villain despite all the amazing things she did, I didn’t know Barnum was a real man at first and when I did I assumed he was good
It made me so uncomfortable
Oh shit Harri's coming back with a bang! Lol can't wait to watch this one
I remember the first time I heard of Sara Bartman I was in the 4th grade and one of my sisters recommended that I looked her up and wrote about her for a report for black history month(at my all white private catholic school) and when I first looked her up I started crying because of what they did to her and it made my heart hurt so much but regardless I wrote about her and handed it in and I got a good grade but my teacher was a bit uncomfortable because of the pictures I chose to use to describe her(she was a white Italian woman there were a lot of them in my school) and asked why I chose to write about her and I told her it was because I felt similar to her because of how my body looked compared to every one else(the children in my grade were either white, white hispanics, Asian or Indian I was the only Afro Latina there and some of my teachers would call me out for not wearing the right type of school pants because I couldn’t fit into the ones provided for us I would wear my school pants from cookies and was always called out for it or sent home with a note to my parents almost every year by my teacher or some other staff up until my parents came in and or wrote a note confronting them for how they were picking on me after I told her that she stayed quiet and told me to return to my seat
It is true whenever you see Venus or learn about Sarah Baartman you never forget it
the pirate ship is so educational every day I find out about things I was too young to notice and every day I thank the captain
I'm not black, but I am a big girl. We all forget Katie & Sadie (Sadie is probably "bigger" than Leshawna), because they are flat characters to be quickly voted off the show, so we overlook them from the start. I loved Leshawna the moment she arrived, as I don't have any confidence like she does, and her entrance was awe-inspiring. The Harold part, being a cartoon Napoleon Dynamite, always annoyed me, especially with his interactions with Leshawna. I didn't know this was a thing, later knowing someone who was real-life Harold. We are no longer speaking, but his obvious fetishising of black women was gross, and he didn't see the problem in it. He was also a woman-hating bigot, but that's another problem. I also hated how they did Leshawna dirty in season 2, I mainly forget season 2 because they made all the previously likable characters jerks.
I never heard of Sarah Baartman, I thought you were referencing a fiction story, at first. Now knowing her story, its enraging.
Your hair is so pretty omg...You always look fabulous, I aspire to take care of myself like that ^w^ !!!
Also yea this relationship always made me really uncomfortable too. I physically cringed when he first met her. Harold is just kind of weird in general and not in the good way
Yes please tell us the true story of the greatest showman.
Yo, African here. The thing about "revealing" clothes in my culture as a Nigerian, is that it's not even revealing or meant to be sexulised. For example some African attire left the torso open. Breasts were seen as normal. We don't question a man topless and we didn't question a woman topless too. And it made sense. Our babies feed from our breasts so why would we sexulised something like that? Until the white man can along and sexulised it.
oh my gosh, your comments about the greatest showman,, I wouldn’t mind a video on that, that movie felt very sensationalized. thank you for this video btw, those commenters are right when they say your videos are very informative. and as a white girl, I 100% believe you and your points in this video.
also I hope you have a nice day!
I have heard about Sarah, the topic was about how white men use black women as test subjects with no medicine. It a sad topic. I love the video ♥️
please make a video about the greatest showman! in my elementary school we sang the greatest showman's song all the time and i'd really like your take on him. your videos are so informational and refreshing and i appreciate how you have the energy to post every now and then. stay hydrated, and feel free to take breaks! :D
I personally do like this ship although I do see some faults in it. Hopefully this video could help teach me how I could possibly fix this dynamic in my AU. Thanks for the advice Harri!!
I'm happy to see you again, Harriyanna Hook. Great video by the way. I do think Tyler and Lindsay's relationship is probably the healthiest and most stable relationship in Total Drama.
Damn!!!! I knew the basics of Saarje's(I think that's how you spell her real name) story, but my jaw dropped so fast when I heard she got thrown in prison and died there because that pig made her sickly! What a humiliating way to go out😞
"You guys let me know if you want a video on The Greatest Showman"
yes i love your analysis
I am realizing more and more that TD is more about character studies about horrible tropes than actually being a "good" show. love the series and characters for the most part but then we get stuff like this.
i actually like this "relationship" in that it really highlights how this sort of dynamic is AWFUL and RACIST. of course the show doesn't do that but we have you Harriyanna and other black pop/culture "dissectors" to show the new generations that this isn't right.
Omg you're back I love your total drama videos
Intersting- I agree a lot in the show aged poorly - there’s a lot of stereotypes and bad relationships in this show. I actually always liked Lashawna and Harold, and I had never thought about the issues you were talking about! ( also, I have only seen the first season)
Hell yeah I haven't even seen total drama but I love your videos
sigh, I completely zoned out while watching this video, gonna have to watch all over again, cuz i loved the half i actually caught!!
Pleaseeee,make a video talking about the greatest show!
This movie bothered me SO MUCH!!
As a autistic latin person,this movie made me mad,mainly because of this trashy man and everything that he did.
Courtney and Duncan S1 will forever have my heart♥️
DAMN GIRL!!! Lip gloss looks SO GOOD! Gonna buy some now
This was sad, but good and reasonable.
As much as Harold is Leshawna's secret admirer when he gave her a letter, I also really admire the relationship between them, but not as much as Tyler and Lindsay.
I think I first learned of her through like, a tumblr post talking about her finally being buried.
It was just so sickening, and kept reminding me of how footnote-y things like human zoos and shit were in my every history book.
Like they were nothing, a quirk of the past. One thing that happened once and not a trend hardly disguised
I'm so pleasantly surprised to hear Suzan Lorrie Parks referenced such a great playwright. And you are so right with leshawna. Her mannerisms, her body, and her aesthetics was used as a joke and was completely exploited in the show. It really added a layer of toxicity in my relationship with the show overall. Thanks for being real and sharing important history and works with in the context of your passion and videos!
can you please make a video talking about lightning from total drama revenge of the island? when i was younger, i loved him and he did not deserve his derailment in all stars. but now that i get older, i realize he was a very offensive character. for starters, the whole ‘sha’ catchphrase was extremely racist. another thing is that he was the only male character with visible lips and butt and the fact that his lips and butt were bigger than some of the girls on the show is insane. lastly, in his ending of total drama revenge of the island, he says “you can call me white lightning!” because his hair turned white because he got struck by lightning, and that is very wrong for to reasons. 1. if you got struck by lightning you would either be severely injured or worse die and 2. your hair would not turn white. but what hurts me about that line is that i feel like he is being white washed by having colored hair. i know celebrities of color like Beyoncé and Shakira bleached their hair to stand out in the industry, but it honestly just hurts. I prefer people of color with their natural dark hair instead of trying to look more white to please others. with that being said i agree with this statement and i am glad someone is speaking out about this. thank you harriyanna hook your are amazing ❤️.
@@awsomedude23456 i understand about the hair part and that was just my personal opinion. but the fact that his genetics are over exaggerated is definitely racist.
@@awsomedude23456 yea but he was even more sexualized than justin and alejandro, 2 men of color who were portrayed terribly. but out of all 3 of them, lightning had it the worst.
@@awsomedude23456 BECAUSE 👏🏽 HE 👏🏽 WAS 👏🏽 MORE 👏🏽 SEXUALIZED 👏🏽 THAN 👏🏽 THE 👏🏽 BOTH 👏🏽 OF 👏🏽 THEM 👏🏽 COMBINED
Hmm… 🤔
@@awsomedude23456 read
I read the play in my first year of college in a feminist theatre class. It was probably the craziest story I have ever learned about. Knowing they kept her body on display for so long. It wasnt until recently her body was laid to rest. One of the stories they dont talk about in highschool.
I loved your thoughts on this! That relationship always rubbed me wrong when I was young but then getting older and rewatching it I would always cringe when Harold would talk about or to Leshawna. Learning about the play Venus it totally gives even more perspective to the fetishization of black women and they way women are fetishized. It was really crazy to hear that.